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Dear Editor:
As Carmel residents consider an average 14.6 percent increase in assessed value on their property in 2023, they look with wonder on the ways the city is financing the gaudy Center for the Performing Arts.
The redevelopment gurus designated all the vehicle dealerships on 96th Street as a tax incremental financing zone dedicated to the Center. That meant all the property taxes those folks pay would be used to pay off Palladium bonds.
This year those property taxes total about $3.6 million according to county records.
But data the city provided the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance indicate the Center bond payments in 2022 will total $8 million. The balance obviously will be paid from other taxing sources, further limiting the flexibility of the city to expand or enhance basic services.
It used to be poets wrote of starving artists.
Now they can write about starving the public.
Bill Shaffer
Carmel